The Future Looks Bright
by 0-Crimson-0-Nightshade-0
Summary: After reciving a message warning him not to go to the future, Knuckles immediately does so. He soon discovers that Metal Sonic Ten has taken over and only one member of the Sonic Team is alive, Shadow! [AU Shadow x Tikal] [postponed until further notice]
1. Curiosity Killed the Echidna

Well, here it is folks, the fourth edited version of "The Future Looks Bright"

I hope you enjoy and please R&R I really appreciate reviews.

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Chapter One: Curiosity Killed the Echidna

By the light of the full moon a jet black hedgehog stole to the remains of a giant tree, the remains of the Sonic Team Tree Base. He looked around longingly, his crimson eyes bright with unshed tears.

"I hope this works," he muttered, unaware of the two robots advancing slowly behind him. He murmured a word then shouted 'Find Knuckles!' as he lifted his hands; one scarred the other mechanical. As the robots closed in, a bright sphere of light appeared and flew up and away, blinding the robots for a second. When the light cleared, the hedgehog was gone. All that remained of him was a whispered word on the wind: "Knuckles,"

o0o0o0o0o0o

"Knuckles!" cried an orange echidna as she raced through the Sonic Team Tree Base searching for her brother. She bounded to her brothers room. "Knuckles?" she called again as she entered his room to find him gone. She sighed, an annoyed expression on her face as she stalked out of her brother's room and in the direction of her boyfriend's room.

"Shadow?" she asked, "Do you know where my brother is? Rouge is on the phone and she wants to talk to him!" At her voice a black hedgehog raised his head slightly, his hair, normally in spikes, was disheveled and he wore an exhausted expression.

"You're looking for Knuckles?" he asked staring at her. She nodded and he replied "Sorry, Tikal. I haven't seen 'im all day." Tikal sighed and turned to leave

"Well, if you do see him, tell him to call Rouge back. Okay?"

"Fine, if it gets you to leave so I can sleep!" Shadow muttered as she left. He waited a few seconds before yelling, "You hear that, Romeo? Your girlfriend wants you to call her back!"

His closet door started shaking as a red echidna stuck his head out of it.

"I owe you so much, Shadow! You saved me from the devil reincarnated as a white flirty bat!" Knuckles the Echidna pulled himself out of Shadow's closet, his newest hiding place from his girlfriend, and pulled the door shut. Shadow shook his head, crimson eyes amused and said "You let me sleep and we'll call it even." Knuckles nodded as Shadow collapsed onto his bed. As soon as he heard Shadow start to snore Knuckles reached for his Gamecube. The instant the echidna touched the controller, Shadow muttered: "If you value your life, leave my stuff alone!" Knuckles pulled his hand away slowly keeping a wary eye on Shadow. He pouted staring at his friend as he murmured

"Maybe you won't be so grumpy when we're older." As he began to leave the room a small sphere of light flew in his way. He jumped backwards as it flew pointedly in his direction. "Whoa! What do you want!" He jumped again, as a mans voice floated out of it:

"Knuckles! If my messenger has found you then I need you to listen to me! You need to avoid coming to the future at all costs! If you come here then―" the voice was cut off as the sphere's light sputtered and died. Knuckles stared at the spot where the sphere had floated seconds before. He lifted up a small crystal clear fragment of the sphere. It took him a few seconds to realize that the fragment was nearly bursting with Chaos Energy. Questions raced through his mind as he thought about the message. _Who was this guy? How does he know my name? What does he mean Future? I don't wanna go to the future! How would I get there anyway? I'd probably need a time machine, but, I can't build anything! Everything I build blows up… _As he thought Shadow sat bolt upright and shouted

"Where'd all that chaos energy come from! Is my brother here or something?" The red echidna shook his head and motioned for Shadow to go back to sleep. The hedgehog stared at Knuckles for a second then fell back into dreamland. A new thought crossed Knuckles' mind as he thought about what Shadow said, _This fragment does have a chaos energy signature similar to Ten's._ _Maybe, Ten sent it and is just trying to keep me from doing something great for the future! That's gotta be it!_

This messenger thing sounded just like something Shadow's older brother, the evil Metal Sonic Ten or Ten for short, would do. Ten had also been created by Professor Gerald but three years before Shadow. The robot had, and probably always would, hated Shadow. They developed a strong rivalry and Ten would now stop at nothing to kill Shadow and anyone else that stood in his way. Ironically, since he was trying to take over the world, that included the Sonic Team and since Knuckles was the co leader, Ten would try to get him out of the picture by keeping him in the past. Especially if he had, although Knuckles doubted it, taken over the future world.

Knuckles nodded and decided to go to the future where the fragment came from immediately just incase it was from Ten. Well, as soon as everyone else woke up and he got Tails to build a time machine for him.

Knuckles sighed and walked over to Shadow to attempt to wake him up without getting hurt. He decided that the best way was to poke him with something from a distance. The red echidna looked around and found a long stick. When the stick first brushed his fur Shadow moaned and rolled over muttering something along the lines of 'if you touch me with that thing again, then I will kill you'. Sure enough, when the hedgehog awoke he destroyed the stick and turned to come after Knuckles. After assuring Shadow that he could sleep again after the meeting, Knuckles hurried out of Shadows room narrowly missing the chaos spear that Shadow threw lazily at him. Knuckles shook his head and walked down the hallway until he found Chance's room.

He entered the room and found that the seven year old was still asleep. The little hedgehog had also been created by Professor Gerald. He was created as a companion to Shadow but the two thought of each other as brothers. Chance had always stuck to his older brother like glue and it was because of this that Shadows affectionate nickname for the little green hedgehog was 'annoyance one'. Knuckles was convinced that Chance had a shrine in his closet of the dark hedgehog. He walked over to the green hedgehog's bed and gently shook him. Chance moaned and rolled over, exactly like his older brother. Knuckles smiled and calmly told him that Shadow would be at the meeting. At this, Chance leaped up and bounded to the bathroom to take a shower.

Knuckles continued to the room of Shadow's sister, Luna. She had been created by Professor Gerald a little bit before Chance. She had been created to stay at age eight forever. She was overly dramatic, Shadow called her 'annoyance two' when he was alone with her, and she had a huge crush on Tails. He walked into the room and woke the silver fox up. She groaned for a few seconds until Knuckles reminded her that Tails would be at the meeting. She grinned and started to recite romantic Shakespeare lines, Knuckles escaped before she got to Romeo and Juliet.

He hurried on his way and came to his little sister's room. Tikal, who was obviously already awake, shoved a phone in his face and ordered him to call Rouge back. He shouted at her for a few seconds and a screaming match occurred. After a few minutes Tikal gave up and told him she'd be at the meeting.

Knuckles slowed down as he came to Epsilon's room. The bat had only joined their ranks a few months ago and no one but Shadow really trusted him. Epsilon had been working for Ten but Shadow had saved his life during a battle and convinced Sonic, the egotistical leader of the Sonic Team, to let him into the team. He walked into the room and over to Epsilon's bed. The black and green bat was tossing and turning obviously having a bad dream. Knuckles shook him awake and asked him to come to the meeting. Epsilon, wiping cold sweat from his brow told he would be there no matter what. Knuckles nodded and continued on his way. Unfortunately, Knuckles didn't see the evil glint in Epsilon's eye as he left.

Knuckles made his way to Sonics room. He walked in and was nearly blinded by the fact that Sonic had his walls painted bright blue. Wincing slightly, he walked to the blue hedgehog's bed, careful not to tread on one of Sonic's action figures of himself. He shook Sonic awake and after being lectured on waking him up when in the middle of a dream about himself, Knuckles asked Sonic if he would come. The hedgehog nodded and Knuckles left for fear of getting asked to play with one of Sonic's action figures.

The next room he came to was that of Sonic's girlfriend, Amy. He opened the door and was nearly blinded again as Amy had painted her room bright pink. He walked to her bed and attempted to shake her awake. She latched onto his arm murmuring something about Sonic. By the time Knuckles had pried himself loose of her grip, she was starting to wake up. Knuckles hurriedly wrote a note explaining about the meeting and left.

The last stop on his list was Tails' room. He had saved the yellow-orange fox till last since he had to convince him to build the time machine for him. Walking to the fox's bed, he gently shook Tails awake. Once he was up, he handed the technological genius the fragment and told him all would be explained at the meeting.

Knuckles left the room feeling quite pleased with himself; he had managed to wake everyone up without getting hurt. As he walked towards the stairs, still overly pleased, he neglected to notice Shadow behind him. The dark hedgehog hit him with a Chaos Spear causing the red echidna to tumble down the stairs.

"That's for waking me up, Knucklehead!" The dark hedgehog shouted. When he landed at the bottom, Knuckles muttered under his breath 'Sorry for waking you up Sleeping Beauty…'

o0o0o0o0o0o

A few hours later Knuckles was proposing his idea to his friends. Shadow rolled his eyes and sighed. Chance who was watching his older brother, copied his motions. Luna watching her two brothers copied Shadow as well. Tikal immediately gave her older brother, an expression that said 'what about the master emerald!' and now sat with her back turned to him. Epsilon groaned and shook his head a look of disbelief on his face. Sonic grinned widely and started bouncing on the balls of his feet, obviously wanting part of the action. Amy on the other hand sighed and dragged Sonic down into his seat next to her by his ear. She gave him a look that clearly said _No time travel for you! We have a date!_ Tails gasped and muttered something about everyone using him as a tool and not a person.

"I dunno, Knuckles, a time machine would be a lot of work for me," Tails started. Knuckles, destroying his pride, fell to his knees and began to beg. Shadow knowing how prideful he was took out a camera and took pictures of his pleas. He only stopped when Sonic gave him a look. The dark hedgehog stuck out his tongue at Sonic and returned to his seat.

"Look: I think Ten sent this and is trying to keep me from, I dunno, savin' the future or something! So I think that we can agree as a group that I should go to the future and save it!" Knuckles said as the commotion calmed down. Shadow stood up,

"The thing is, Knuckles, what if," he sighed, "What if, Ten didn't send it? What if, it was from one of us trying to stop something horrible from happening?" Sonic rolled his eyes and stood up,

"I think that what Knuckles says is true and Shadow is just being a pessimist as always!" Sonic said as Shadow stared at him in disbelief.

"Fine! Go ahead and possibly destroy us all! See if I care! If that happens, don't come cryin' to me!" Shadow snapped as he left the room in a huff.

"Shadow!" Tikal shouted as she ran after him.

Sonic shook his head and said "Don't mind them, Knuckles. I've decided that I'm gonna let you go!" Knuckles grinned and hurried off. "Tails, time for you to make a time machine!" Sonic shouted after Tails as he walked away.

"And time for us to get ready for our date!" Amy declared as Sonic moaned.

o0o0o0o0o0o

A few days later, Tails was done with the time machine and everyone, but Shadow who was still all pessimistic…and moody, was waiting to see Knuckles off. Tikal hugged her brother then excused herself to go and try to cheer Shadow up.

"This, is your time machine?" Knuckles asked as he stared at what Tails had brought him. It looked like a cardboard box with the fragment attached to the top and attached to some buttons and an engine on the back.

"What! You wanted to go quickly didn't you! I couldn't make the most high-tech thing in the world!" Tails snapped.

"Okay! Okay! Don't hurt me! Now, how do I work this thing?"

"Well, you push this button to go to the time that sphere thing came from," Tails said pointing to the red button, "and you press this one to come home!" He pointed to the blue.

"What do the rest of them do?"

"They're mostly just there for show, but that one" he pointed to a black one with a skull and cross bones on it, "is self destruct…don't push it."

"Okay!" Knuckles shouted as he crammed himself into the box. "See you guys in the future!" He pressed the red button and immediately his friends disappeared in a blur of color.

o0o0o0o0o0o

A black and green bat hurried down the corridor of the Overlord's palace. When _he_ summoned you, _he_ did _not_ like to be kept waiting. The bat entered the throne room and saw his master: the Overlord of the planet. The bat bowed low as his master looked him over. The Master's red eyes narrowed in disdain as he surveyed the bat. Normally, he would never let an original member of the now destroyed Sonic Team into his presence. If it wasn't for the fact that the bat had been named his general, the Master would have him thrown out.

"Well, Epsilon?" He began, his deep voice thick with impatience, "I'm waiting. What information do you have for me?" Epsilon cleared his throat and began,

"Your Excellency, my spies following your brother―"

"Were they spotted?"

"No sir, they found him by the remains of the Tree Base and have brought me valuable information." The Overlord's eyes glinted,

"And what would this information be?"

"We have proof, your Excellency, that Knuckles has somehow survived the Sonic Teams destruction and is out there somewhere. Your brother called out his name before disappearing." At this the lord threw back his head and laughed. His laughter, although thick with cruelty, had no trace of mirth left in it. When he recovered, he stared at Epsilon eyes glinting evilly and murmured,

"If we can capture the echidna, we can finally draw my brother out of hiding! We both know that it was a miracle that your spies found him. He hides himself well," the Overlord paused and then stood up so quickly that it knocked his throne over,

"I want efforts to find my little brother doubled, no, tripled! Anything to find him and have him watch the last member of his little group die just like the rest of them! Then I will finish him off as well."

The Overlord began to laugh again and Epsilon could tell the meeting was over.

o0o0o0o0o0o

At first, Knuckles had tried to keep his eyes open to see glimpses of his future but found the blur of colors to hurt his eyes too much. He squeezed his eyes closed and began to hear snatches of conversations. A few concerned him, he tried to listen but they flashed by almost as fast as the colors. He heard someone, maybe Shadow, murmuring "Where is he?" a scream, followed by anguished sobs of "I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!" more screams, a murderous laugh, and then, nothing. He opened his eyes and saw nothing as well. He screamed thinking he had pressed the self destruct button and was dead, but when he kicked out, he opened the box. He blinked in the sudden brightness of the morning sun, as he staggered out of the box. A foolish grin was on his face and it only widened when he saw the cars had no wheels and robots were walking among the people.

He had made it and he was alive!

He was so excited in fact that he started jumping around like an idiot, inadvertently pressing the self destruct button with his foot. Tails' voice suddenly rang out:

"Self Destruct Sequence Initiated!" as though Tails had predicted that the Knuckles would be standing stock still staring at the box his eye twitching, it said "I'd run if I were you Knuckles, Self Destruct in five, four, three," At the word 'three' Knuckles began to run for his life, "Two, one, zero. Good bye!"

As he ran the Box exploded sending him flying into the city.

o0o0o0o0o0o

At the sound of a huge explosion, Shadow the hedgehog raised his head from the cardboard box he was using for a pillow in the alley next to The Chaos Inn, his usual residence. He had decided not to stay in the inn since he had almost been captured the day before. Since he was a fugitive he was using a hologram emitting from the gold ring around his arm to look human. Although being created by Professor Gerald meant that he was immortal, the hologram reflected how long it had been since he had been created so he looked like he was twenty eight.

Curiously, he poked his head out of his alley and saw smoke coming from the park. Now, more confused than ever, the man walked out of the alley and onto the street. He may be a fugitive now, but using his hologram, no one noticed him. Most people were running from the explosion, but he joined the robots rushing towards it. It might have been a risk to join the rush and maybe be spotted, but he had to see what was going on. If memory served it had been ten, long, tortured years since Knuckles had left in his time machine. Now that he knew that it had been he who sent the message to Knuckles warning him not to come, he knew Knuckles would turn up eventually in this year. This explosion just might have been him, hitting the self destruct button Tails had conveniently placed on the time machine, and Shadow was going to make it his business to find out.

As he ran, his arm bumped into a robot damaging the hologram projector. Unfortunately, the many wanted posters of him around the city were of him in this form and a robot immediately noticed this and called the cursed Overlord's special police. Shadow himself didn't notice until one of the robots shot a laser at him, knocking him to the ground. The one in front, the only one that wasn't a robot, the only one he recognized; his old 'friend' Epsilon the Bat. After Knuckles had left, the _traitor_ to the Sonic Team had called the Overlord and helped him get the world into the sorry state it was in now. The traitorous bat walked forward and placed his foot on Shadow's chest,

"Shadow the Hedgehog!" he began a cruel smile on his face, "You are under arrest for crimes against the Overlord!"

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_End Chapter…_

There you have it, the beginning of my longest story, The Future Looks Bright. I hope you enjoyed it so far.

Oh and to avoid any flames, yes I know Shadow was created fifty years ago, but he was in suspended animation so he wouldn't have aged at all if he did age.

Please R&R

Next Time:

_Execution Day_


	2. Execution Day

Here it is! The short awaited edited version of "The Future Looks Bright"! I really hope that my readers enjoy this, my best (ignoring my more popular Coming Out Of The Closet) story so far! Please R&R

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Chapter Two: Execution Day

Knuckles couldn't believe what he was hearing; Shadow, under arrest! _Then again, _Knuckles thought, _he has done quite a few things wrong…_ Knuckles had landed about ten feet away from a group of robots and one bat who was very familiar. He had watched as one of the robots shot a laser at a Shadow. The bat had stepped forward and stepped down on Shadow's chest. Then, smirking, he had said loudly, clearly enjoying himself, "Shadow the Hedgehog! You are under arrest for crimes against the Overlord!"

Quickly, Knuckles moved towards the group hoping to discover why Shadow was under arrest. From his spot he could clearly see Shadow, lying on the ground smiling slightly.

"Well, Epsilon," Shadow remarked, "Looks like you've finally got me, but, it's been so long since I was last captured, that I've forgotten why I'm under arrest." Knuckles stared at Epsilon, not believing that Shadow would betray the Sonic Team like this.

"Alright," Epsilon began slowly, looking at Shadow warily. He began to read off what Shadow had done. Knuckles watched Shadow as he listened to his crimes. He had winced at the word murder. Murder! Shadow, a murderer? That was one thing that Knuckles couldn't believe. He watched as Shadow lifted up one of his hands. He flicked his wrist and suddenly his fingers were twice as long and razor sharp. Knuckles gasped knowing that only the robots such as Ten could do that.

Shadow moved his clawed arm in front of his face and slashed Epsilon viciously on the leg. Knuckles backed away as blood splattered out of Epsilon's leg and onto Shadow. Epsilon fell backwards and Shadow got up and ran. The robots closed in around Epsilon, clearly worried about him. Epsilon shrugged them off and ordered them to go after Shadow.

Knuckles, careful not to make a sound, stood up and followed Shadow. It was hard to keep up as Shadow was a supersonic hedgehog. Shadow finally stopped at a café and sped inside. Knuckles followed him and sighed in exasperation. Shadow had obviously used the hologram Tails had made him to make him look human and was blending in to avoid further capture. He looked around hoping to spot Shadows conspicuous black and red hair, but it was nowhere in sight. The closest he got was a man dressed purely in black with black hair sitting at the piano playing a mournful tune, but it sounded as though he had been playing for hours. When the man stopped, Knuckles clapped politely along with the rest of the café.

A waitress nearby looked over at Knuckles and jumped in surprise when she spotted the fact that he was an echidna. She walked over and asked him his name. Knuckles calmly replied "Satoru." This was the name that Shadow had given him as a code. The waitress nodded slowly and hurried over to the man at the piano. Knuckles heard her say "Kage, there an echidna here and he says his name is Satoru. Is he the one we've been waiting for?" The man, Kage, perked up at this and turned revealing crimson eyes to the café. The waitress pointed Knuckles out and Kage nodded smirking slightly, the waitress nodded and returned to her business. Kage beckoned Knuckles and he obliged curiously hurrying over to the man.

"Satoru is it?" he asked, his voice strangely familiar even though he had never seen this man before in his life. Knuckles nodded and Kage grabbed his arm with a strangely cold hand and dragged him into the back.

"What do you think you're doing!" Knuckles exclaimed as Kage locked the door and pushed Knuckles down into a chair. Knuckles stared up at the man nervously as Kage started to laugh.

"Come now, Knuckles! Don't ruin your pride by getting all nervous on me!" Knuckles breath caught in his throat; this guy knew his real name! Not only that, but he had realized where he had heard Kage's voice before, it was the same voice from the message telling him not to come to the future!

"You're… you're Ten, Aren't you!" Knuckles shouted as Kage stopped pacing.

"Why do you think…? Oh, right, at the meeting you were convinced that my brother sent the message."

At this, Knuckles stared at the man before him intently.

"Shadow?" he asked in a tiny voice.

At this the man smiled and looked Knuckles in the eye nodding. The man looked at his wrist and poked it obviously trying to turn hedgehog. When nothing happened he cursed and hit his wrist on the wall. The hologram disappeared and the arrogant black and red hedgehog stood before him.

"Yes, Knuckles! I was afraid for a second that since you thought I was my brother, that you'd attack me!" Knuckles stared at his friend not believing that he had almost attacked him. Then he remembered why he had followed him.

"Shadow, why are you under arrest?" he asked suddenly. Shadow froze and winced slightly.

"You…you heard all of that?" he asked. Knuckles nodded in reply. Shadow sighed and continued, "Everything that Epsilon said was true. I did all of those things."

"No…" Knuckles murmured, "You murdered someone!" Shadow winced again as if hit sharply on the head. When he recovered, he nodded unable to speak.

"Who?" Knuckles asked. Shadow looked at him as tears welled up in his eyes. He briskly brushed them away and turned his back on Knuckles, refusing to tell him.

"It was Sonic, wasn't it?" Knuckles pestered. Shadow winced again, muttering something that sounded like 'tactless'. Knuckles looked down feeling awful that he had made his friend so upset.

"Alright, but even if you don't tell me, I think you should turn yourself in!"

Shadow turned back to Knuckles an odd look on his face almost like sadness but it passed and nodded slightly saying

"If you think I should, then I will, but first you need to get back to your own time." Knuckles cocked his head to the side,

"Why? I like it here! Besides, I uhhh… kinda broke my time machine…" he laughed nervously at the look of disdain mixed with sadness on Shadow's face.

"Well then," he said in an oddly choked voice, "you'll have to stay here … in the inn. You can use my room … well, my area. I live here and in the alleys you see … this is my temporary residence when I'm not in my alley." Knuckles nodded slightly confused. "Oh and one more thing, if you come with me to the Overlord's palace then you'll need to wear this," at this Shadow held out the ring with the hologram projector, "it will give you a human form and you can't say a word. Also, we have to go tomorrow." Knuckles nodded again as Shadow went to the door and unlocked it. He paused for a second and touched his ring-less hand and suddenly he looked human again. Knuckles wanted to ask why but he bit his tongue and followed Shadow out of the door.

The room fell silent as Shadow and Knuckles entered. They stared from Shadow to Knuckles and back to Shadow. The hedgehog nodded slightly and a huge cheer broke out. Knuckles jumped slightly as many of the people ran towards him wanting to shake his hand. Shadow sent them all away and pushed up the stairs. They entered a dark room and Shadow locked the door behind them. For a second Knuckles saw a bright sphere of light in the corner, but it disappeared and Knuckles decided that it wasn't important.

"What was that all about!" Knuckles exclaimed as Shadow sat down.

"Well, I told them that when you came that, well, that there would be some new hope in our lives." Knuckles stared at Shadow an incredulous look on his face.

"Hope?" he inquired but Shadow refused to answer.

o0o0o0o0o0o

The next morning as Knuckles and Shadow walked down the stairs from Shadow's room, the waiter and waitresses all clapped for the red echidna again. It only took a look from Shadow to make them stop. Shadow then ordered some food and the two friends sat down to eat breakfast in silence.

Knuckles noticed that Shadow seemed a bit paler today and much more somber and he had lost his happy, well happy for Shadow, attitude of the day before. Knuckles was dying to ask him why, but something in Shadow's mood made him stop. Shadow explained how to operate the hologram projector and warned him not to bump into things. After breakfast they took to the streets. On the way, Knuckles took a different turn than Shadow and ended up lost. Being separated from the only person he knew in this futuristic world caused him freak out and, accidentally, bump into a wall. As he attempted to find Shadow, he nearly got arrested by a group of robots surrounding a wanted poster of Knuckles himself. After a few minutes of wandering away from the robots, a cold hand grabbed his arm and dragged him into an alleyway. Knuckles looked up to see Shadow grasping his arm with a look of pure exasperation on his face.

"Didn't I tell you not to go wandering off on your own! And why are you in halfway form?"

"One, I got lost and two, I got nervous thanks for worrying _MOM_…" Knuckles replied sullenly. Shadow shook his head and dragged him in the direction of a huge palace.

"Shadow," Knuckles asked as they neared the palace, "Why am I under arrest?"

"Probably to draw me out of hiding." Shadow replied dejectedly. "Well, here we are."

Knuckles couldn't help but gasp at the sight ahead of him. The palace was huge and, strangely enough, blue. Knuckles was now thoroughly convinced that Sonic ruled the planet. Shadow beckoned him and moved toward the palace. As they approached the entrance, Shadow muttered 'remember, not a word' and walked up to the guards. Immediately the guards moved their spears to block the entrance.

"Halt! What is your business here?" one of the guards asked gruffly. Shadow glared and touched his left hand slightly. The human disappeared and Shadow the hedgehog stood before the guards. The guard that had spoken smirked slightly as he saw the hedgehog before him.

"His Excellency has been waiting for you, Shadow." The guard said smiling cruelly as they allowed Knuckles and Shadow into the palace.

As they walked down the hallway, Shadow seemed to get more and more nervous and Knuckles was confused. If Sonic was the ruler of the planet, then why was Shadow nervous? Sonic would give him a fair trial. The reached the throne room and Shadow froze as if in fear or anger. Knuckles shook his head and made sure no one was near. He then murmured "come on" and opened the door. Shadow nodded and led the way in.

"What do you want!" a cruel, cold voice bellowed, "I said no disturbance―" the owner of the voice froze as he saw Shadow. "Well, what do you know…" he started. The owner of the voice walked forward and Knuckles gasped as he realized who it was.

The Overlord had bright blue hair with white streaks in it. It was slicked back and held there with a ponytail. His complexion was pale and he had red eyes. He wore the uniform of a commander except with a long cape from the shoulder. It was obvious to Knuckles that he was using a hologram no matter how good it was. As Knuckles backed up a step and Shadow narrowed his eyes the robot smirked laughing softly,

"It's good to see you again, Little Brother." Metal Sonic Ten said as he started down from his throne.

"Can't say the same about you," Shadow said as he began to quake with either anger or fear. _Probably the first_ Knuckles mused as Shadow glared daggers at his older brother.

"And who is this with you?" Ten asked, staring at Knuckles and completely ignoring Shadow's comment. Shadow scoffed

"Like I'd tell you!" Shadow replied hatred dipping off every syllable. Ten raised an eyebrow and snapped his fingers. Instantly, Shadow yelped in pain and clutched at his left hand. Breathing heavily, Shadow flipped his older brother off and began calling him some very dirty names. Knuckles stare at Shadow in wonder; he didn't know that so many curses existed. He didn't notice that Shadows voice was growing weaker by the second or the steady drip of blood. By the time Shadow had gotten to his third language, Ten snapped his fingers again, and Shadow let go of his wrist and continued cursing Ten. The robot sighed in exasperation and yelled,

"Could you just tell me his name already!" Shadow's stream of curses stopped and he replied no and continued his cursing spree. Tens eye twitched and he walked toward Shadow and said

"If you don't stop this foolishness and tell me his name, then I will be forced to cut off your other hand." Shadows mouth snapped shut as Knuckles exclaimed

"What! You're missing a hand!" The two brothers stared at Knuckles as Shadow hit his head on his hand and Ten said,

"I'd recognize that voice anywhere. Welcome to my world, Knuckles." Knuckles shivered slightly at the thought of the world belonging to the robot. Shadow looked down slightly as if in anger of Knuckles' out burst. Knuckles didn't understand why Shadow was so angry, so what if Ten knew he was here! It didn't matter…right? But if it didn't matter, then why did Shadow look so upset? Knuckles didn't understand. Ten smirked at his younger brother and then turned to Knuckles saying

"I invite you to come to the palace tomorrow as my guest. There will be a," he paused looking at Shadow cruelly, "a ceremony and you will be the guest of honor." Knuckles nodded warily as Shadow looked at his brother in disbelief.

Ten waved his hand at Knuckles saying "you can go now, I need some alone time with my brother." Knuckles nodded again and left the throne room.

o0o0o0o0o0o

"I still don't understand why you need to interrogate me! You know Knuckles is alive!" Shadow yelled as Ten circled him. Shadow was, once again, tied to a chair underneath bright lights as his brother tried to get information out of him.

"Yes, well, what I want to know is how is he still sixteen? He should be twenty six! It has been ten years after all."

"Well, maybe he's like us! We were created to remain at one age―"

"I see one flaw with your lie, Shadow,"

"How do you know it's a―"

"I saw him using a hologram! If he was like us, then his hologram would appear to be twenty six! But he was still sixteen! Did you put him in suspended animation after you found out that you were to kill all of the Sonic Team? No that couldn't be it… he was gone when I called you to the Space Colony two years before that," Shadow, not wanting Ten to know that Knuckles was the worlds only hope of this future never happening, tried to change the subject.

"Don't you want to know about my… uh… hideout?"

"Not particularly, no… maybe…" The robot fell silent as a malevolent grin spread across his face. He began to laugh as Shadow blanched fearing the worst.

"That's why my spies heard you calling his name! You sent a message to the past, to Knuckles telling him… well I haven't figured that out yet, but I will soon enough," he said turning to Shadow, his hand prepared to snap. Shadows eyes widened as his older brother walked over to him. He leaned in close to Shadows face and muttered,

"If you don't tell me why you sent that message then I will kill you." Shadow glared at the overlord who scoffed,

"Very well, prepare to die." Ten snapped his fingers and Shadow began to scream in agony. By snapping the robot activated a chaos emerald shard embedded in Shadows wrist. When activated, it would cause every scar on his body to open. The resulting blood loss would kill him.

"I'm, surprised that you stood as long as you did when I did this in the throne room. Normally, you would have been on the floor by then."

"I… didn't want Knuckles… to know… what you were… doing to… me..." Shadow choked out.

"I could stop this pain. If you tell me why you sent the message then I will let you live for another day," Ten murmured. Shadow, whose vision was going black anyway, muttered, "I… I… didn't… want him to come… here…"

"Why?" Ten asked as he snapped again deactivating the shard and causing the wounds to heal again. Shadow looked up and Ten felt a twinge of guilt as he saw his younger brother's pain ridden face. He shook it off, years ago, when he had discovered that Maria supposedly preferred the black and red hedgehog to him, he had decided that he didn't need anyone anymore; especially not his younger brother. When Shadow just stared at him, Ten began to lose his temper, "Well!" he demanded,

"If… he didn't come…" Shadow paused for breath, "Then none of this… would have happened…"

Tens eyes glinted evilly as Shadow looked down. _So that's why he didn't want me to know it was Knuckles…_ Ten thought, _he was trying to protect him… hmmm… how unlike Shadow_. Ten turned to leave.

"Wait!" Shadow cried his voice surprisingly strong,

"What?" Ten asked annoyed that his brother would dare address him while he was plotting.

"Why did you invite Knuckles to my execution!" Shadow demanded. Ten looked back at him and smirked,

"I want you to watch him die before I kill you."

o0o0o0o0o0o

_Shadow lay in his bed, thinking, as always. He rolled over and began to fall asleep. He felt a hand touch his shoulder,_

_"Tikal?" he muttered rolling over to find her sitting at his bedside. He sat up to ask what she wanted but was cut off by her kissing him fiercely. Shadow blinked then relaxed into her kiss and kissed her back.. Her hands wrapped around his back as they broke apart for air. She smiled at him and then her features began to change. Shadow cried out as he realized who it was; It was Metal Sonic Thirteen the only girl in the Metal Sonic ranks. She had been created by Ten when he was bored one day. He had been trying to clone himself, but ended up with basically a girl version of himself. Although she had originally been with Ten, she was very fickle and had gone with all the other major robots, like Metal Shadow and Metal Knuckles. Her fickleness had caused the death of the two others she had been with, She was now, sort of, a wife to Ten._

_"Guess who?" she asked a cruel smirk on her face. Shadow stiffened as her fingers extended into claws and dug into his back…_

Shadow awoke with a start. He was laying face first on the floor of a cell. The dream had been so real… then he realized why; the pain in his back was real. His brother stood over him, his claws embedded slightly in his back.

"What do you think you're doing!" Shadow demanded

"Waking you up," Ten replied calmly, removing his claws, "Heal him." The robot ordered of one of the guards that always followed him around. The guard clumsily walked over to Shadow and pulled out a bottle of crystal clear liquid. He dabbed the liquid on Shadow's back. The wounds healed instantly as Shadow winced and asked,

"Why are you healing me?" Ten smirked

"I want you to be in tip top shape for the execution today." Shadows eyes widened as he remembered his brothers words from the night before. He had to figure out a way to keep Ten from killing Knuckles. If Knuckles died, then this would be destined to happen. Shadow wouldn't let that happen, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

"Get him up," Ten snapped. The guard pulled Shadow to his feet. They walked down the hallway of the dungeon and towards the staircase to the main castle. As they walked Ten fastened handcuffs around Shadows wrists.

"Don't want you escaping again, now do we?" The robot asked snidely as Shadow glared daggers at him yet again. _Like metal handcuffs are gonna hold me,_ Shadow thought annoyed, _my brother must really underestimate me._ They exited the castle and walked toward the wooden platform where Ten would kill Shadow in front of hundreds of people. Shadow stood on the platform and looked around trying to find Knuckles. He spotted him staring back at Shadow curiously and nervously. Ten stepped forward in all of his 'glory'. The people started cheering him for the capture of the infamous Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow shook his head in exasperation as Ten, once again, started his long speech about how justice would finally be served as soon as Shadow was killed. In the middle of Ten explaining how he had captured the 'infamous hedgehog' Shadow cut in.

"Excuse me, uh, _big brother_?" Shadow smirked as every one of the people around gasped not believing that their ruler was related to the dangerous fugitive Shadow the hedgehog. Ten shot a look at Shadow that, if looks could kill, would have killed him.

"I just wanted to tell you and everyone else that _you_ didn't catch me, and that there will be no execution today." As the audience stared at Ten in shock, the robot extended his claws and started towards Shadow. The hedgehog smirked and used the handcuffs as a shield. As the handcuffs fell to the ground Ten advanced again and Shadow smirked disappeared in a flash of green light. The hedgehog reappeared behind the robot flipping him off and just inviting his to kill him. Ten slashed at him again, only to have him disappear and reappear behind him again. Ten slashed at his brother again but missed as Shadow disappeared into the audience.

Ten looked around thoroughly fed up with his brother's antics and yelled "Well, don't just stand there! Find him!" Meanwhile, the hedgehog had appeared next to Knuckles and he grabbed the echidnas arm. Knuckles started and looked at Shadow sighing, "Oh thank god it's you." Shadow shook his head but it was too late, someone turned and shouted "I found him!" Shadow jumped and clutched Knuckles hand tighter. He muttered "Chaos Control" as the robots closed in. they appeared again in the alley outside of the palace just as Ten screamed, "Go after him!" Shadow cursed under his breath and started to run holding onto Knuckles hand. They sped up as they reached the street and Knuckles was nearly flying out behind him. Shadow looked over his shoulder and cursed again, as the robots were still following him. Knuckles looked at Shadow fearfully, and Shadow nodded and they disappeared once again in a flash of green light.

"We have lost visual, repeat, we have lost visual," One of the robots said as they turned back to the palace.

o0o0o0o0o0o

"That was your execution!" Knuckles shouted as they landed gently on one of the beds in Shadow's room of the inn. Shadow nodded,

"Yeah. That was my fifteenth execution this year. Ten still hasn't been able to kill me, anyway, this is your room. We can't go outside until our escape dies down, so make yourself comfortable." Knuckles nodded and asked if he could explore his new living quarters. Shadow nodded waving his hand. Knuckles was amazed at how big this room was. He walked past a door and saw a light. His curiosity getting the better of him, he entered the room and found a small shrine with a capsule similar to the one Rouge found Shadow in on Eggman's base. Knuckles walked forward and placed his hand on the glass rubbing away the dust. What he saw nearly made him cry out in terror. Inside of the capsule was Tikal. But she looked about twenty-four. Her hair was long and brushed, and her clothes looked good as new. _But_, Knuckles thought as he stared at her, _she's way too pale… maybe I should let her out. _The echidna reached for the release button but froze as he realized that she was also too still. He chest didn't move at all and he realized looking back she hadn't moved at all. He backed away, not wanting to believe what he had realized. As he backed up he ran directly into Shadow. He looked up at his friend and looked back at Tikal with tears in his eyes. Shadow reached down and brushed the tears away.

"So I guess you know now," Shadow muttered as Knuckles looked back at the hedgehog, "the reason that I am a fugitive is because I killed Tikal."

o0o0o0o0o0o

_End Chapter…_

Dun dun dun DUUUUUNNN! Yikes! Shadow killed Tikal! Oh the Cliffhangerness! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Oh and by the way, it might be a bit before a put Chapter three up, I'm still writing it. I'm actually about half way through…

Anyhoo, Please R&R

Next time:

_Death and Destruction_


	3. Death and Destruction

Okay, here Chapter Three!... well, part one anyway... I hope you enjoy!

o0o0o0o0o0o

Death and Destruction Part One: The Deal

Shadow sat in his bed looking at the ceiling guiltily. Knuckles was furious at him for killing his younger sister and then keeping her body in suspended animation. Shadow heard a soft tapping on the door and nodded slightly. The door opened and a bright sphere of light about the size of a golf ball flew into the room. It floated next to the bed and suddenly disappeared in a flash. When the light cleared Tikal stood next to Shadows bed looking concerned.

"What's wrong Shadow?"

"How are you feeling today? Did a certain depressed echidna screech and try to hug you when he saw you?" Shadow asked monotonously.

"What's with you? You never attack Knuckles like that! What's wrong?"

"Your brother knows that you're dead," Tikal looked down slightly and then asked.

"Lemme guess, he wants to kill you?"

"No, he just won't talk to me,"

As the words 'he just won't talk to me' left Shadows lips, the door opened again and Knuckles walked in eyes closed dragging a blanket behind him.

"Shadow," the echidna asked exhausted, "I can't sleep! I keep thinking about Tikal."

"What am I supposed to do about it!" Shadow snapped, irritated that the echidna hadn't knocked.

"I dunno," the echidna replied shrugging, "make me warm milk or tell me a story or something. Else that'll take my mind off my sister."

"What am I, your mother?" Knuckles grinned and opened his eyes.

"Yes, yes you―" Knuckles began but he froze as he saw his sister standing next to Shadows bed.

"You're alive!" the echidna shouted joyfully as he ran forward to hug his younger sister. When his arms should have wrapped around her, he grasped only air and fell forward landing flat on his face. The red echidna made sounds of confusion and horror. He backed into Shadow's bed and looked at the dark hedgehog fearfully. Tikal looked at Knuckles sadly and touched his hair.

"Knuckles, I am dead."

"Then how are you―"

"I… well, when I died my spirit left my body and my body went into a state of suspended animation. Shadow kept me as a spirit and kept my body hidden. About six years ago he created this hologram for me so that it looks like I'm alive. In other words, I can touch you," she explained quietly demonstrating, "but you can't touch me."

Knuckles looked down and then to Shadow.

"Tell me how this happened." The echidna demanded. Shadow sighed and muttered

"It's a really long story and not the best for a bedtime story…" Knuckles shook his head

"Don't try to avoid telling me," the echidna snapped, "I want to know why you killed my sister!"

"Fine. Sit down and I'll tell you what happened after you left."

o0o0o0o0o0o

It had been about two years since Knuckles had left in his time machine and the Sonic Team was starting to get worried. Shadow thought that he had been right at the meeting and Knuckles was dead now. Tikal, and the rest of the Sonic Team, thought that her brother was trapped in the future with a broken time machine. Although at the moment the Team had much more serious problems on their hands then a missing echidna.

There had been an increasing number of murders and all of the victims had a familiar symbol on their wrists. A Chaos Emerald surrounded by a triangle and a circle; the symbol of Ten. The robot had grown as bold as to kill one right outside of the Sonic Team Tree Base. In order to stop the murders, Shadow had scheduled a meeting with his brother. Epsilon, who would have normaly done it, had disappeared after his last meeting with Ten. At the moment, Shadow was getting ready to travel up to the Space Colony ARK, where Ten held his base. The dark hedgehog heard a slight knock on his door. He called 'enter' and Tikal walked in. She held a small dagger in her hand. When Shadow looked at her confused she muttered.

"In case he attacks you, I don't want you to get hurt." Shadow shook his head and took the dagger from her trying to hide it in the quills on his back.

"Don't worry, Tikal! It's just a meeting! He's not gonna attack me!"

"Shadow, you still have to be careful." Tikal muttered as she helped him conceal the dagger.

"Tikal, why wouldn't I be careful? I'm always careful around my brother. Its not like I'm going in there guns blazing. Besides," he leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips, "I'm getting married to you in a few days! Like I would pass up a chance to see you in that dress."

"Shadow!" Tikal muttered blushing.

"I'll be careful alright! You can tell the others about the marriage once I'm gone okay? I'm not big on getting hugged by anyone but you." As Shadow started toward the door, Tikal ran up behind him and hugged him tightly.

"Don't get yourself killed up there alright?" Shadow smiled at her and murmured.

"I promise I won't."

And with that, he walked out of the door and disappeared in a flash of green light.

o0o0o0o0o0o

Shadow appeared in the main control room of the ARK. For a second he paused staring at the window that he and Maria had stood at when they had promised to go down to Earth together one day. Of course, that had never happened as the solders of G.U.N. had come to the ARK and killed Maria and almost everyone else. Shadow had been the only one they wanted but the scientists on the ARK had been 'in their way'. As he shook his head of those memories, a cold, amused voice behind him spoke.

"Well, lost in memories again are we little brother?" Shadow whirled around to see his older brother Metal Sonic Ten. The robot was, as usual, using a hologram to appear human, but he was far from it. Currently, he appeared to have long pointed and notched ears. His blue hair was spiked similarly to Shadows. He wore his usual blue outfit that looked remarkably like his real form. His hands were made out of metal, so that it wouldn't disrupt the hologram when he unsheathed his claws. It was his eyes, however, that caused the dark hedgehog to shiver. They were a deep blood red and had no pupils.

"You're here early, Shadow! I expected you in about an hour! Come, let's have a drink and catch up."

Shadow, never having had alcohol before being only eighteen, obliged immediately. Ten lead the hedgehog to his old room and motioned for him to sit down on one of the many chairs around the table.

"Are you expecting others to come?" Shadow asked curiously.

"No, no… well… in a way, I suppose," the robot replied as he poured two glasses of a deep red wine, "I was expecting you to come with guards is all."

"Do you really think I'm so paranoid as to bring guards to a peaceful meeting?" Shadow asked slightly annoyed. He lifted the glass to his lips. He paused as if unsure if he should drink it. Ten shook his head and took a drink from his glass.

"See? No poison. Now, think about it, if I had wanted to kill you, you would have been dead in the control room. You do realize that, right?" The robot smirked and Shadow glared at him again. Shadow once again raised the glass to his lips, this time sipping the ruby liquid. The fruity and yet bitter wine slipped down his throat quenching his thirst almost instantly. Ten leaned forward and asked.

"So, what's new in your life," the robot smirked and examined his claws, "you already know what I've been doing." Shadow set the glass down and looked at his brother accusingly.

"We're supposed to be negotiating the stop of these murders. Not talking about what's new."

"Yes, well," Ten waved Shadows accusation away, "We can get to that in a moment. We haven't talked for two years little brother. I just want to know what's new!"

Shadow looked at his brother carefully, Tikal's warnings ringing in his mind. The question _seemed_ innocent enough, but could he really trust this murderer?

"Nothing new has really been happening," Shadow said careful not to mention Knuckles and his time machine.

"Now really, Shadow, I know that you're lying. You looked to the left. You _can_ tell me what's new you know," Ten said standing up with his hands behind his back, "How could I use it against you? I wouldn't; after all, this is a _peaceful_ negotiation as you said." Shadow looked the robot straight in the eye.

"Nothing new has been happening." Shadow lifted up his glass and finished the wine. Ten shook his head, trying to hide the fact that his eye was twitching in anger. He held one hand behind his back as he said.

"Surely something new must have happened…" as the words left his lips, he unsheathed his claws behind his back. Shadow heard the tell-tale sound of metal grinding on metal and shook his head.

"Even if you threaten me, my answer remains the same. Nothing new is going on." The robot gave Shadow a stern look and walked up to him. He placed his claws at Shadow's neck and pressed softly. Shadow winced but kept his mouth shut.

"Why don't you tell me what you're hiding?" The robot pressed harder. "Hmm?" he murmured as a whisper escaped Shadow's lips. Shadow spoke again, louder this time telling Ten to do something quite dirty. Now the robot pulled back and glared at his younger brother, unsheathing his other hands claws. Shadow glared back, crimson eyes fierce. Ten cocked his head to the side and slashed at Shadow's face. The hedgehog fell over backwards in his chair. Ten followed him and dug his claws into the ground, narrowly missing Shadow's head.

"Why don't you just tell me what's going on!" the robot snarled. Shadow's breath quickened as Ten's other hand rose, now poised to strike Shadow directly in the heart. Shadow quickly pulled the dagger out of his quills, only to have it knocked away by the robot. Shadow sighed, if he didn't tell Ten something, then he would die. The hedgehog thought of the most innocent bit of information possible and hoped that Ten couldn't use it against him.

"Fine," the hedgehog murmured, "I'm getting married."

Ten drew his claws out of the floor and sheathed them. He stood up smirking and offered his brother a hand. Shadow knocked it away and stood up, brushing dust off of his ebony coat. Ten poured another glass of wine for Shadow and asked.

"Well! Marriage, I didn't expect that. Who is the lucky woman?" Shadow looked at his brother warily.

"Tikal," He replied calmly. Ten nodded a slight smile spreading across his face.

"Ah, yes… I always knew you two would end up together… oh, and speaking of Tikal, you are to kill her." A chill ran down Shadow's spine as he bellowed.

"No! I'd never kill her!"

Ten smirked slightly and disappeared for a split second. Shadow suddenly screamed in agony as his right hand dropped to the floor, blood spurting from his severed wrist.

"I thought you might refuse," Ten murmured smirking widely, "but if you don't agree, then you'll bleed to death." Shadow knew that what the robot said was true, but he would never hurt the one he loved. He wouldn't let anyone else he loved die. Not after… Maria.

"Never…" the hedgehog breathed. Ten smiled wider still as he snapped his fingers. Shadow expected the chaos emerald in his wrist to activate, but instead, Chance and Luna appeared behind the robot looking scared and confused. They were accompanied by none other than Epsilon the Bat.

"You," Shadow muttered murderously. Epsilon smirked at him and said.

"What? Did you seriously expect me to be a goody two shoes for long? I've been spying on you brats this whole time!" As he spoke, the bat pushed Chance and Luna forward. The second that Chance saw his brother, the little hedgehog screamed and attempted to get to him to help stop the bleeding, but Ten held his hand up and Epsilon restrained him.

"Now listen to me, little brother, if you don't choose to kill Tikal, I will kill Chance and Luna. It won't matter to me, after all," the robot smiled horribly getting close to Shadow's face, "they are just annoyances." As Chance and Luna looked at Shadow fearfully and Shadow clutched at his wrist, he thought about the impossible choice before him. He could either condemn his brother and sister, or, he could kill his fiancée. Apparently he took too long for the robot who assumed that he had chosen not to kill Tikal once again.

Shadow was forced to watch in horror as Ten stabbed poor little Luna in the neck. He removed his claws as she screamed. He then dug his claws into her just below the collar bone and dragged them down to her opposite hip. As Luna hit the ground in a bloody heap, Chance began to weep uncontrollably. Shadow wanted desperately to get up and comfort Chance and throttle Ten behind the little hedgehog's back, but he was too weak from blood loss to rise.

"You monster!" Shadow screamed. Of course, had Chance not been in the room, he would have used something much more profound. Ten simply smirked again and motioned to Epsilon. The bat nodded and drew out a dagger and stabbed Chance in the heart.

He was dead before he hit the ground.

"No!" Shadow roared as he leapt to his feet, ignoring the tears streaming down his face and the unbearable pain in his wrist. One thought was burning in Shadow's mind, Kill Ten. As he attempted to tackle Ten to the ground, Epsilon moved in the way and took the blow for the robot.

As Shadow scratched and bit and screamed at the bat, he slowly sank to his knees. The pain in his wrist was too much. He was losing too much blood. He knew that if he kept this up, he would kill himself, but the dark hedgehog didn't care.

Ten slowly walked over to Shadow. He touched his brother's hair and said.

"You know, they didn't have to die. If you had just decided to kill Tikal in the first place, they'd still be alive." Shadow felt as though an iron fist was clenched around his heart. Ten was right. If he had decided to kill Tikal, Chance and Luna would still be alive. It was all his fault. Shadow looked up at Ten slowly, tears still streaming down his face.

"What… what am I gonna do?" Shadow asked quietly looking, for a moment as he had when Maria had died; helpless and unbearably sad. It pained Ten to see his brother like this. It wasn't that the robot cared for the hedgehog, oh no, it was just brotherly instinct, he thought. The robot stroked Shadow's hair and murmured,

"I could bring them back for you if you want." This, of course was a lie. If the robot had the heart to do it, he would just simply put the souls of the two back in their bodies, but the power he gained from their souls was too wonderful to give up. Still, he could tell his brother that he would to get the pathetic little hedgehog to do something for him. Shadow looked up hopefully.

"You could?" the hope in Shadow's face and voice disgusted Ten. Shadow had been created to be a killer from day one. The hedgehog just hadn't killed someone since he had gotten over his amnesia. He didn't remember how wonderful it felt. The joy it brought. He had used to kill whenever Ten mentioned the word. Now, here was the 'great' and 'powerful' Research Project Shadow crying over the loss of two annoyances. But Ten hid his revulsion and put a kind smile on his face.

"Of course I could. But first, you need to do something for me." Shadow nodded slightly as Ten smirked inwardly. At first he had hoped to get Shadow drunk enough to agree to anything, but this was even better. Not only did he get rid of Chance and Luna forever, but, Shadow was going to kill Tikal. He was killing two birds with one stone.

Ten looked back down at the pale and bleeding hedgehog and realized that if he didn't do something; his brother would die of blood loss soon. So he lifted the hedgehog up and carried him over to the table. He looked at Epsilon pointedly and the bat left momentarily. When he returned, he was carrying a mechanical hand similar to Ten's.

He handed it to the robot and looked away. The bat didn't want to have to see Ten attaching the hand to Shadow's wrist. He heard the robots voice, "Alright, now this might hurt a bit," and then the screams that could only mean that Ten had laid the hand on Shadow's bleeding wrist.

Epsilon knew what was coming next so he closed his eyes and covered his sensitive ears. He didn't hear the sound of metal welding to flesh. He didn't hear the agonized screaming that escaped from Shadow's lips. He didn't see the evil glint in Ten's eyes as he finished attaching the hand.

Ten touched Epsilon's shoulder lightly.

"It's done. I know you don't like that, but it was necessary. He would have died." Epsilon nodded gruffly and turned around trying to ignore the blood around Shadow's right wrist. He walked over to the table and saw that Shadow had covered his eyes. Ten leaned down over him,

"You can open your eyes now little brother." The hedgehog opened his eyes and looked over at his right hand. He looked at it in amazement. It fit seamlessly to his wrist. He looked at his brother weakly, and then passed out on the table. Epsilon scoffed.

"Wimp," he muttered. Ten looked over at the bat, a crooked smile on his face.

"Really, Epsilon," The robot said walking over and extending his claws, "you would like to have a hand like Shadow's?" Epsilon blanched and backed away.

"No sir!" Ten sheathed his bloodstained claws.

"Well then, don't call my brother a wimp." Epsilon looked back over at the unconscious hedgehog.

"But sir, he passed out―" Ten cut him off by turning and extending his claws again, this time putting them to the bat's throat.

"Because he nearly died of blood loss," Epsilon backed up as the little color that had returned to his face disappeared, "and just imagine the shock of finding your hand looks the same as your worst enemy's!" Epsilon looked down.

"I'm sorry sir, I shouldn't have spoken up."

"Exactly my point," Ten said as he turned to his brother again as he shook his head, "Come on, let's get him to the medical room."

o0o0o0o0o0o

When Shadow woke up, he was in a sterile white room. He shook his head not knowing why he was here. He looked over at his right arm and immediately wished he hadn't. Apparently he hadn't been hallucinating when he had seen a metal hand where his old one should have been. Not only that, but a thin needle was stuck in his arm and feeding blood back into him. Shadow looked up form his arm and was surprised to see his older brother fiddling with the bag of blood connected to the needle.

Ten felt Shadow's eyes on him and looked up surprised.

"Oh, Shadow, I didn't expect you to wake up for a while." Shadow looked at the robot confused and suspicious.

"What did you do to me?" Ten shrugged

"Well, I cut off your hand, killed Chance and Luna, and gave you a mechanical hand. But that's only in the last day, would you like me to continue?" Shadow glared at the robot and hit him over the head with his mechanical hand. In the process of hitting his brother he flicked his wrist accidentally. From his fingers grew four inch claws causing Shadow to jump slightly and scratch the top of his brother's head. Ten sighed and showed the hedgehog the motion to sheath his claws. As Shadow looked at Ten, cold fury in his eyes Ten replied, feigning an apology.

"Oh, did you I forget to tell you that you have claws now?" Shadow's eye twitched in response.

"Well, I am sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but we have more important matters on our hands." Shadow looked at his brother his eyes widening as he remembered with a sinking feeling that he had agreed to kill Tikal during his hallucinations. But there was one thing that Ten said that Shadow was sure he hadn't hallucinated; he knew for instance that Ten would never say he loved Epsilon.

"Ten," Shadow asked cautiously, "did you really say that you could bring Chance and Luna back?" Ten looked at his brother a small smirk on his face.

"Well, in theory, yes, but," here he paused looking at Shadow cruelly, "I don't really feel like it. They really did annoy me." Shadow hid his hand under the blankets as his claws extended involuntarily. He looked at his brother, a mix of defiance and utter loathing on his face.

"If you won't hold up your side of the deal then I won't―" but he was cut off by Ten laughing cruelly.

"It's too late Shadow. You already promised me. And you know what happens when you break your promises." Ten held up one hand, prepared to snap. Shadow looked at him defiantly.

"That won't work on me anymore." Ten raised his eyebrow.

"Oh really?"

"You can't scare me anymore." Ten smirked.

"I was hoping you'd say that. It means that you're ready to kill her." Shadow was taken aback by this. What did the piece of scrap metal mean? Shadow thought. Luckily, Ten explained.

"Before your fall from Space Colony ARK, you were the perfect killer. Fast, strong, silent, and nearly invisible in the night. I could always tell you were ready for an assignment when you defied me. It meant that you were bored with sitting around the house and you wanted to see blood on your dagger again. It was your way of letting me know that you wanted to kill."

Shadow's eyes widened as he remembered the rush of adrenaline that he got when someone fell in his path. But, that wasn't who he was anymore. He would not kill Tikal. As if sensing his refusal to kill her again, Ten sighed.

"Alright, your insolence is forcing me to do this the hard way," Shadow looked up, now genuinely worried, "if you don't kill Tikal within the next three days, then I will take control of your body and make you do it." Shadow looked at Ten disbelievingly. Possession was impossible, right? As if to prove his point Ten looked at Shadow's mech hand and made it extend its claws and hold them to Shadow's neck, _on its own_. Shadow looked from his hand, to Ten who was smirking widely.

"Well, do we have a deal?"

o0o0o0o0o0o

_End Part One_

Yes, this is a two part chapter now. I hope you lie my cliffhanger!

Please R&R

Next Time,

_Death and Destruction Part Two: The Death of Many_


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